State throws out county protest against property tax valuations

When a local taxpayer brought a protest before the Crook County Board of Equalization last year, board members recognized that the county assessor had properly followed the rules.

Nonetheless, they reversed the valuation and an appeal was filed with the State Board of Equalization.

The goal, according to quotes recorded in the state board’s decision, was to lodge a protest about the way that valuations are done.

But last week, the state board sent the matter right back to the county.

Taxpayer Complaint

According to the state board’s decision, taxpayers from the Goldie Divide area challenged County Assessor Dan Thomas’s valuation of their home.

Thomas testified during a hearing with the county board that he had used the “Replacement Cost New Less Depreciation” method and determined the home’s value to be $293,395. This was then multiplied by a market adjustment of 1.75 for a final valuation of $513,441, using the comparable sales method.

The taxpayers, however, felt that the comparable sales were not truly comparable.

Thomas, however, explained that eliminating the homes that were least similar would actually result in a higher valuation.

County Decision

In the state board’s decision, it notes that the county board’s chairman, Fred Devish, commented that Thomas had done everything according to the applicable statutes and rules.

Another board member, unnamed in the document, is then quoted as saying:

“My opinion is that I think right, wrong or indifferent, I think it all needs to be sent back to the state that we’re all against it and that they need to change the way they do things. I think they leave the assessors hung out to dry with the rules and the way they do things.”

That board member also commented that he did not feel Thomas had done anything “egregious or terribly wrong.”

However, he said, “The more of these that we send back to the state and tell the state this is wrong and you need to fix it, the more we get heard.”

The third board member agreed. The board voted 2-1 to reverse the valuation.

Thomas filed an appeal after the county board issued its final decision on October 2.

State Response

Apparently unimpressed with the county’s protest, the State Board of Equalization issued its decision last week.

Despite recognizing that Thomas had valued the property in accordance with statutes and rules, it reads, the valuation was reversed to “tell the state this is wrong”.

“But if the county board members and their constituents are unhappy with Wyoming’s tax statutes, their remedy lies with the State Legislature,” it reads.

“This board cannot void statutes, nor can we condone disregarding the lawfully promulgated rules of the Wyoming Department of Revenue.”

The state board reversed the decision and has reversed and remanded for a new decision affirming Thomas’s valuation of the property.